NBA To Honor First African-American Player Tonight
The NBA was not the first of the major sports to have an African American player in their league, but they are still proud to honor the first in their league tonight when the Miami Heat play at the Atlanta Hawks. Earl Loyd, who played his college ball at West Virginia State, was a member of the Washington Capitols.
He made his first appearance for the team on October 31, 1950 when they played the Rochester Royals. Loyd had a decent game, scoring six points and grabbed ten boards. He would go on to play 560 games in his career, averaging eight points and six boards in his career. Loyd would later become the first African-American head coach of the Detroit Pistons. That was 1971.
Today, according to NBA reports, the league is comprised of 83% players of color, while 78% of the league is of African-American heritage. It has been a long time coming since Loyd was one of three players to break into the league that year.
Today, many of the top players are of African-American descent. LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, and Dwayne Wade are just a few of the top players today. Being such a young guy myself, it is hard to imagine how much prejudice there was back in the days.
I cannot even begin to imagine how hard it must have been to play in a league where there were so many Caucasian people, and where many of the fans in attendance probably did not want you to succeed. However, because of the courage of Loyd, the NBA is now enjoying the greatest success it ever has had, and much more than it would have now if it were still an “elitist” league of only Caucasians.
This honoring tonight is for Black History Month, and the NBA is doing a good thing to honor the first. Thank you, Mr. Loyd, for having the courage to start a revolution for the game of basketball.
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